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The EU doesn't have any direct control over tax, but the treaties govern how law is applied by member states, including tax law. They do this in a multitude of

The EU doesn't have any direct control over tax, but the treaties govern how law is applied by member states, including tax law. They do this in a multitude of ways, but in the specific case mentioned above you're looking for Article 107 of this treaty[0] which prohibits member states giving corporations individual tax deals that are not afforded to others operating in the same market. The follow-on report on Google, Facebook seems to indicate that they'ree looking at similar individual deals made there. > But as it turns out, the EU's assurances on such things were useless and the Irish people were misled. Leaving aside the absolute spurious nature of that BBC article (there is nothing to support the supposition that the No vote (nor the swing to Yes) had anything to do with taxation or - most ridiculous of all - abortion), even in an imaginary world where those issues were of import, I can't see where anyone was misled. Can you cite cases where the guarantees have been broken? [0] https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/legal/pdf/c_32620121026en.pdf https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/legal/pdf/c_32620121026en.pdf

peoplewindow 9y ago
You prove my point. Article 107 says nothing about tax at all. The EU's case depends on a bizarre redefinition of taxation as "aid", as if taking something away is the same thing as giving it. Article 107 is meant to handle subsidies, hence the discussion of granting things through state resources. Obviously, nobody told the Irish people that their nation's tax decisions might be retroactively re-classified as "aid" ... and nobody told them that because they were explicitly told that tax was not an EU competency. There's really no way around that outcome. Regardless of how the EU likes to reinterpret the treaties to grant it newfound powers nobody thought it had, the people of Ireland know what they were promised and know that it's been violated.

peoplewindow 9y ago

You prove my point. Article 107 says nothing about tax at all. The EU's case depends on a bizarre redefinition of taxation as "aid", as if taking something away is the same thing as giving it. Article 107 is meant to handle subsidies, hence the discussion of granting things through state resources. Obviously, nobody told the Irish people that their nation's tax decisions might be retroactively re-classified as "aid" ... and nobody told them that because they were explicitly told that tax was not an EU competency. There's really no way around that outcome. Regardless of how the EU likes to reinterpret the treaties to grant it newfound powers nobody thought it had, the people of Ireland know what they were promised and know that it's been violated.